A light in the Darkness
by redvelvetscissors
Summary: When the Trix discover their true heritage, they change sides pretty quickly, more reality than a choice. How will they react when they meet their mother, are forced to fight with the Winx. How will Icy deal with putting her sisters in danger? How will Musa react to Darcy and Riven's forgotten childhood friendship? Set before and during Secret of the Long Kingdom.
1. Chapter 1

**I wrote a different version of this on my old account – had to make a new one as I forgot the password!**

 **This is just an idea about the Trix that I had, and I thought I'd write it. Never written a full one before… Plz be nice! :)**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Winx Club or anything to do with it. Created by Iginio Straffi and I think the rights belong to Nickelodeon now?**

 **NB: so apparently in the French novel of the first movie, the ancestresses names are given as Belladonna, Lysslis and Tharma. I'm gonna go with that.**

Floating in the dregs of the water summoned by his own failed Spell of the Elements, Valtor felt the familiar prickle behind his eyes as his horns receded, leaving his wispy blond bangs in their place. The reluctance to return to his mistresses was palpable as he forced himself up on his aching arms, grunting tiredly at his ripped clothes. 'They could have warned me' he thought, getting to his feet and wringing the dirt out of his hair.

He shook his head and scanned coolly around the cavern, planning an escape route. Seeing none, he felt the rage against Bloom and her little friends boil in his heart. It was _their_ fault he was trapped down here, all the power that'd he'd requisitioned in the last year gone and almost without a doubt a trio of angry witches waiting for him in Obsidian. Where were _they_ when he needed them? Feeling his face blush red hot, Valtor grunted, flinging a nearby rock against the side of the cave, dust crumbling off it.

As if on cue, he felt his limbs go weak and suddenly very far away. He watched himself fade before his own eyes, a second of blackness, and reforming seconds later, leaning roughly against a slimy black rock. Looking around, a flicker of dismay danced across his white face when he saw where he was: directly in the heart of Obsidian. Jagged walls of sharp black rock rose above his head far further than he could see, three caves emitting an ungodly red light lay in front of him, formidable as ever. The silence was deafening.

"Well, look who showed up? What's the matter, those kids too much for you?" Belladonna's coarse voice flowed through the cavern like shock waves.

"N-no. It's Bloom, she's so-"

"Yes, yes, yes! The famous Bloom. When Icy whinged about her I always assumed it was just, well, her. She's always been a whiner. But maybe that is not the case. Lysslis?"

"Mmm, perhaps you're right. Hers is a common name around here. I think now might be a good time to try out our new plan." She said, circling the cavern and making Valtor very dizzy.

"And, what is that, exactly?" Valtor chimed in.

"Well, previously, we've sent out one of us, just one person, with or without the witches, they really are useless. Isn't that right?" she sent a piercing look Valtor's way, and, physically wincing, he agreed.

"Well this time," Tharma said, flying out from behind Valtor, straight through him, and to her sister's waiting side. " We're going for a more, _full-on_ , attack. All of us. What do you think?

"Does it really matter?" Valtor muttered.

"What?" Belladonna hissed.

"It's brilliant." He replied, rolling his eyes when they turned away. Oh good. Another half-hearted attempt to 'take over the world'. And he'd have to work with the Trix. Again.

If _any_ of them fell for him in the slightest, Valtor knew he would have no hope of quelling his contempt for them. He was seriously considering invading Zenith again purely for some of their legendary 'emotional numbing' serum. Slip it into their food – no more pointless crushes for those idiots. 'Then again', he thought, 'if that's my plan, I could poison them just as easily.' Was that _so_ bad?

"Yes," Belladonna breathed from above him, "It is _so_ bad. We need them, regrettably, for their _special mission_. Remember?!" The soul-ripping look on her rippling features told Valtor to give up. Grumbling a reply, he cursed himself as Belladonna floated seamlessly through the rock behind them for not recognising the creeping pressure behind his slitted eyes, the weight of her invading his mind. As he squeezed his eyes shut and shook his aching head, Valtor stuffed his chorded hand into his pockets and strode towards the Hidden Valley.

Pushing his way through the hanging weeds and leaves separating the cavern from the Valley, he readied his astute and eager mind for the mindless wittering of the witches. 'Ugh." He muttered, "Special mission. What is this 'mission', anyway? Something pointless, undoubtedly." His mutterings, correct as they were, were overheard by the white haired witch leaning against a nearby tree, black and withered, undeniably because of one of Icy's sisters, inventing their latest worthless hex.

"So, what's next in your war on nature?" Valtor sneered.

"Better make sure it isn't you." Icy laughed, tossing her glossy hair back in a torrent of sarcastic laughter. It cut Valtor deeply that she could still get to him after all the power she had seen him collect.

"I think I'll be alright, thanks." Valtor replied. Icy gave him a bored look and went back to staring blankly at the ground, periodically pausing to examine her immaculate nails.

Strolling into the centre of the trees where the witches sat idle, Valtor internally shrieked at the monotony of what he had to do. Every. Single. Time.

"Okay, you three, gather round." He began. "Now, they've got another plan. Guess what it is."

"Could it be attacking the school until they beat us? Again?" Darcy groaned.

"That's exactly it. However did you guess?" Valtor chuckled. "Except their coming too. We're all going. Mandragora too. How does that sound?"

"Does it matter what we think?" Stormy snapped.

"Not in the slightest. But come on, chop chop." He turned on his heel and left, leaving the witches alone.

Once Valtor was fully out of sight, the three sisters let out a synchronised groan.

"Why does Mandragora always have to come everywhere with us? She's such a drag!" Stormy whinged.

"I know, I mean we can hardly do our thing with her there, can we?" Icy replied. Darcy growled and said "Oh, come on! We all know we hate her 'cause she's better at this than us!"

"That is so not true!" Stormy barked, slamming her hand down against a nearby tree trunk.

"Yes it is, and you know it," Darcy said "now let's go, they'll want to see us."

"Mm," Icy muttered, jumping off the rock she had thrown herself down on while Valtor was talking, "now, sisters… brace yourselves."

Creeping towards the hidden door into the cavern, the Trix paused. From inside was coming the most horrific, malicious whisper from Belladonna's lips, directly into Valtor's ear. Stopping just short of the entrance, they listened:

"Can't we just ditch them? How important is the mission, _really_?"

"Very. We cannot truly have complete power over the magical dimension unless it is done. And besides, they should know."

"Mm, I suppose. So, we send them to Whisperia. They find out for themselves where they're from, and then we annihilate the place?" Valtor asked, his face as if the plan was written in a foreign language.

The Trix slipped back a bit from the edge of the door, and slid down the wall. Breathless, Icy said "so, they're sending us back home, and they're gonna blow us up?!"

"Home? Where even is that?" Stormy asked.

"You heard her, Whisperia." Darcy hissed.

"Where the hell's that?" Icy hissed back.

"I don't know; and guys, I think we're missing the point! If we go when they send us, we're all gonna get blown up! It won't be much better if we tell them we're not going, though!" Stormy interjected angrily.

"Okay, so let's go now!" Darcy growled.

"Ok" Stormy agreed.

"Hey, are we really planning to run away? From _them_?" Icy asked.

"Ice, we've wanted to find home for years. Theirs might be, but our home certainly isn't here." Darcy insisted. "Besides, what choice do we have? They're gonna come after us whatever we do, so may as well find our home."

"You make a good point. Alright, let's go." Icy said tentatively. Whatever remaining colour in her face drained away as she heard the barks coming from inside the cavern. They slipped away as Valtor was feeling their wrath swirl around in the air, completely undetected.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The portal took much of their combined power, but eventually it brought the Trix, tired and exhilarated from the terrible treason they'd just committed, to the very heart of Whisperia, an old fashioned, but bustling city with shouting mothers pushing triple pushchairs and gripping a toddler, bouncing teenagers feeling their first taste of freedom from parents, and contented old couples holding hands after 50 years of marriage. Disgusting.

The square itself was carved from marble, a grand hall with inscriptions of generation after generation of royal families dancing across the rooftop. Small houses forced between the grand ones owned by rich aristocracy, cars beeping and revving on the roads. A circle of hanging baskets blustered in the wind surrounding the edge of the main square.

"Ok, even I have to admit, this place is pretty nice." Darcy exclaimed, hands on hips. Her sisters muttered an agreement and began to stalk around the square, taking in every detail. For the first time since Icy had suggested the Army of Decay, Darcy and Stormy shared a look of unspoken fear: they had mere minutes until the ancient witches realised they had been abandoned.

Following Icy across the street, the two girls felt the sky darken. Menacing storm clouds rolled in rapidly and sharp blades of rain started to fall.

Trying in vain to ignore their probable impending deaths, the three witches continued down a small, winding side street. The cobbles made the heels of their boots wobble as they strode, but the knowledge that this was truly their home made them hurry even faster.

Off the square, out of view of throngs of people, shops, town houses and quaint little cafés, the girls saw a quite different view of the realm. In reality, away from all the bustling city life, Whisperia was even more beautiful. Rolling hills spread out before them, mere feet from where roads and buildings dominated the landscape. Cottages were dotted on both sides of the dusty country road.

And on top of the tallest, gentlest slope in sight, sat a dark, majestic castle. The Magic Dimension had very few realms ruled by witches, but some did still exist. And Whisperia, as it happened, was one of them.

The castle was gothic in style, with six identical black stone turrets and a seventh in the centre, stained glass winding up it to the very tip. Even from at least a mile away, the girls could see a grand entranceway engraved with a royal insignia, a disused guards' tower either side. It reminded them all ever so slightly of Cloud Tower, with its dark air and foreboding archways.

"I can't believe we never knew this place existed. Hey, how come Valtor never stole the magic from this realm? He did it to basically everywhere else!" Stormy asked absently, sitting down roughly on a gentle incline behind her.

"Well, I'm guessing this was the ancestresses realm too, since we're from here, I'm betting they are too." Icy explained, glancing up at the incoming storm. The sky, if it were possible, had darkened even more viciously, and the rain had started to pound against everything it touched. A patch of cloud began to swirl in a vortex of greys and blacks, a widening centre of light emerging from it. An interdimensional portal.

"Shit. What do we do?" Darcy said as she pulled her sister up from where she sat.

"We stay, and we fight. We're witches, and they don't scare us!" Icy spat, a haughty look on her face. Her lip curled in disgust.

"Ice, as brilliant and never disastrous as your plans are, the coven are no fairies, and they, apparently, have been planning to kill us for a while. So let's haul ass." Stormy cut in, grabbing her sisters by the hand.

"Not so fast." Belladonna's rasping voice cut through their forming portal, and, as the cloud dissipated, her frozen hand clamped over Icy's arm. Her face turned to murder, but she knew they didn't stand a chance against the coven.

"You _dare_ be so insolent as to run away from us!? The great witches who raised you all when your parents abandoned you? We've been tolerant of your uselessness this far, but obviously it's been lost on you. Maybe we need to try something a little harsher." Lysslis took over the spiel from her sister. A bolt of darkness shot from her ethereal hand, making Darcy's body seize. Tendrils of lightening crept over Stormy's body when Tharma clenched her fist. Her breath grew rapid and uneven as the crackling arms wrapped around her waist and crashed through her. Ice danced over Icy's alabaster skin, Belladonna's hand now gripping the back of her neck.

"This little _indiscretion_ cannot, and will not, go unpunished. Let's now return to Obsidian so we can continue this." Belladonna chuckled, and, to Icy's surprise and horror, let her go. She dropped to the grass with a harsh thud, sending a shot of pain through her chest. Why had she just been freed like that?

Her answer came seconds later when a piercing scream ripped from Darcy's lips. The pulsing cloud of blackness engulfing her pressed against her skull, forcing every painful memory, every awful and bloody battle, back into her mind.

Another scream, this one weak and saturated with terror, erupted from Stormy. The lashing coils of lightning whipped against her skin relentlessly. This was going to kill them both.

Rage like she had never felt, not even for Bloom, surged through every cell in her body, sharpening her senses, driving her power into one focused, throbbing ball of anger. It tore from her hands, sending chills down every inch of her. The spinning sphere of ice split perfectly into three. The satisfaction she felt when it cracked open, hitting the witches that she hated so much.

Darcy and Stormy fell hard against the dusty path. Icy, still kneeling where she fell, forced herself up and ran. She to her sisters, grabbed both of their wrists. They had to get away. Where to?

They didn't know, even as they joined hands and hurriedly muttered the spell. They didn't need to know, all they had to do was get somewhere they would be safe. Safe. It was in that moment that they realised they hadn't been that in a very long time.

Darcy and Stormy screwed their eyes shut as Icy pictured their destination in her head. They probably would be attacked on sight. They certainly wouldn't be welcome. But they would be safe from the ancestresses.

With an enraged howl from Belladonna, the three girl vanished.

To Alfea.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"Stella, how the hell did this happen?" Bloom exclaimed, surveying the ruined library, books burning and smouldering all around them, Miss Barbatea's desk in chaos.

"I was doing research! I didn't mean to do this!" Stella moaned, head in hands.

"Ok. We believe you, but there is not a chance that Miss Barbatea is going to see it that way." Tecna interjected, cautiously picking up a book, batting out the remaining flames and placing it hopefully back on the shelf. It collapsed to the ground immediately, and she pouted.

"I know, I know! Will you help me clear this up?" Stella asked, shooting a begging look at all her friends.

"If by 'help', you mean you sit and file your nails and we do all the work, no." Layla said, remembering every other time Stella had caused mayhem. "If, by 'help', you mean actually help, then fine. _But_ , we have to tell Faragonda before Griselda finds out."

Stella nodded in agreement, relief flooding her face. She threw a pleading look at Bloom and Flora, who grudgingly agreed to go with her to Faragonda's office. They skipped nervously towards the door, but the look of confusion on Musa's face stopped them in their tracks.

"What the hell...?" Layla gawked as a swirling cloud of blacks and greys formed before their eyes. It filled the room with a heavy white mist, concealing the three girls that fell through the portal, breathing heavily as it zipped shut behind them.

"The Trix? What in hell are you doing here?" Bloom snapped, her mouth still wide open in shock.

Elena Griffin paced Faragonda's office, her dress sweeping loudly behind her. Faragonda sat at her desk, tapping a fountain pen against a blank piece of paper, save for the address: Saladin at Red Fountain. The gravity of the situation hung over them both like a thick grey cloud.

"I did _not_ see this coming." Griffin said gravely, massaging her aching temples.

"None of us could. Even the Magix council believed the ancestral witched trapped inside Obsidian. I knew, as we all did, that they were planning something. But we have a much bigger problem that I ever thought possible if they can leave at will. Poor Dorothy." Lisa Faragonda stood up, and paced beside her friend.

"Mmm. That woman lost her husband and children to those witches, and now her kingdom is under siege." Elena added.

"It isn't! Some of the people in the town said they saw the Trix in the square, just before the coven arrived. I'd bet a huge amount that the ancestresses were after them." Lisa looked into Elena's roving eyes.

"Why? I thought they were in league with the coven?" Griffin asked.

"Perhaps, they have uncovered their true heritage. Either way, I believe it is time for them to go home. Would you send a letter to Dorothy?" Faragonda replied, handing Griffin the pen. The witch nodded and sat, leaving Lisa to pace, dreading what was to come.

A frantic banging at the door interrupted her quickly darkening thoughts. The two heads looked at each other questioningly. They nodded silently.

"Come in." Faragonda called. Bloom burst in through the door, panting, and spoke quickly.

"Miss Faragonda, we were in the library, and the Trix came through a portal thing and they said the ancestral witches attacked them on their home planet-" Faragonda raised her hands, signalling Bloom to stop talking.

"Bloom, my dear. I know. Their mother has written to me, informing of the attack on her kingdom. We do understand that the Trix were there and ambushed by the ancestresses. We all have a lot of explaining to do. Are they here now?"

"Yes. In the library." She breathed.

"Very well. Go back there, and we shall follow soon." The kind smile on her face reassured Bloom, who had grown more and more nervous by the second. She turned slowly to leave. Lisa signed Elena to rise and follow her. The two women strode elegantly behind Bloom to the library, where, inside, stood the five other Winx girls, all wearing shocked expressions. In the centre of the room stood three witches, wet, cold, with dried blood on their faces.

Silently, Lisa swept into the room and stood directly in front of the three girls. She gestured to a nearby table, ordering them to sit down. They did, all the fight and violence gone from their movements.

"Alright, you three. Tell us everything." Elene said from behind them, an apologetic look on her face, her eyes kinder than the witches had ever seen before.


	4. Chapter 4

The large, circular table situated exactly in the centre of the library seated up to ten people. The Winx sat almost in a row, suddenly very quiet. Each still wore a shocked and uncomfortable expression, watching their sworn enemies, only a table separating them. The Trix, however, no longer looked angry and bitter and mean. Icy's hard face quivered as she used her ice, shaking as if it terrified her, on her sisters' bruises. Darcy's mischievous eyes were dull and resigned as she carefully cleaned the blood from her face. Stormy's knitted and angry brow relaxed into wide-eyed confusion. The Trix as they knew them were no more.

Between the two groups sat Griffin and Faragonda. Each of them looked defeated, as if their secret was some terrible force about to be unleashed.

'It might be' thought Lisa as she stared down the three witches, shadows of the forces of nature they had been a few short months ago.

It was Griffin who broke the heavy silence.

"So, you three. We have pieces of the information, but we need your side of it, too. So, if you would, start talking." Her face was much softer than her voice, which made Icy speak, her voice calm and not nearly as harsh as it usually was.

"So after you defeated him," she said, glancing at the Winx, "he came back to Obsidian. We'd only been back there a few days. A few hours before the ancestresses went out to find him. When he failed, they decided to launch a new plan. Everyone at once attacking this place. So, we went to the Cavern like they wanted us to. But then…" she trailed off, snapping all her defenses into place once more, unsure how much she should give away. Noticing her sister's reluctance, Darcy slipped her a reassuring look and carried on,

"Then, we heard them planning to send us home. We didn't know where home was, but we heard them mention a realm called Whisperia. So we figured that was it. But then we heard them saying they'd send us there, let us see it and then kill us. So we left, straight away. And they followed us. We knew we had to get out, and this was the first place _she_ ," she pointed her delicate finger at Icy, "thought of."

Slowly nodding her head, Lisa asked "is that everything you know?"

The three sisters nodded in unison. Satisfied, Faragonda sighed. She and Elena appeared to have an unspoken conversation, ending with Griffin saying,

"So, you girls probably want to know what all this is about." It was a statement more than a question.

"Yes, if you wouldn't mind," Stormy replied, a hint of her cutting sarcasm returning to her voice. Instead of reprimanding the young witch, Griffin smiled. So they weren't completely traumatised, then.

"Very well," Lisa said, "essentially, this is your story. I know you don't know who your parents are, despite the very well-constructed lie you gave to Professor Griffin and your classmates at Cloud Tower. Unfortunately, or perhaps not, for you, _she_ knows perfectly well who they are. What you do not understand is that your Shadow Fire is a polar opposite, just as powerful if used by the right person, as Bloom's Dragon Fire. Your kingdom, Whisperia, stands as a balance to Sparx, and it is, in fact, _your_ kingdom. Your mother is the queen. She's a wonderful woman, a bit eccentric perhaps, but wonderful. She didn't abandon you girls as the coven would have you believe. I'm sorry, Bloom, but she did what King Oritel was too afraid to do: give up her children to save her people. But now, I think it's time you meet her again – obviously you can never return to the service of the ancestresses." She stopped, and the Trix were silent. No snide comments, no choking sobs as came from Bloom when this information was given to her about her family, nothing. They just stared.

"I know this is a lot to take in, but it is the truth. Truth that I should never have hidden from you for so long at Cloud Tower. It helped to shape you into what you have become over the last few years. But, I promised your mother I would watch out for you when you came through my school, and, if the coven had found out that you knew – and they have ways of finding out – they would have had you killed a long time ago." Elena added, folding her arms uneasily.

"So, the castle we saw on top of that hill, that's our house?" Darcy asked, the cogs in her brain visibly whirring.

"It is. I have sent word to Whisperia that you are here and safe, your mother is on her way. Actually, she should be here now. Bloom, would you go to meet her in the foyer?" Griffin instructed, considering the Trix needing to stay seated. They all looked pale as death. Bloom hurried silently from the room.

"And, we have this, Shadow Fire? It's like the Dragon fire, but dark?" Icy questioned. If she had known about it two years ago, her excitement about its potential for destruction would be uncontainable, but now, in the cold air of Alfea library, a large bruise forming across her ribs, it poured terror into her chest.

"Exactly. And, I believe it would be a large asset to bringing down Belladonna and her coven. It is also now time for you to pick a side. I am assuming, in light of recent events, we have your allegiance?" Lisa asked, her wise face softening.

"As much as we hated you over the years," Icy said, "you have our full support. God help us." She laughed a little, at which point the five remaining fairies let out a collective sigh, their ease returning in floods.

"Good. Now, after you've met your mother, I would like to invite you all to stay with us. As much as I feel you still aren't a fan of fairies, you cannot return home at this point. It's far too dangerous." Faragonda smiled as she spoke, imagining Griselda's reaction when she heard the news.

"Ok, uh, thank you." Icy said, all animation fizzing out of her voice. The other two sisters nodded their agreement.

Bloom, head down and paces large, strode to the grand foyer in a matter of seconds. When anxious apprehension fills your thoughts, a few flights of stairs sail past in a heartbeat. She counted her steps as she went, wondering how far she would have to walk with a lonely and slightly mad queen in tow, who, she now was in no doubt, knew her own parents very well.

Dorothy waited with her back to the main staircase, admiring the young fairies strolling through the quad, groups of sullen witches still guests from Valtor's recent offensive, and squads of specialists, entertaining the fairies with their Hoverbikes. Inhaling deeply to calm he fraying nerves, Bloom cleared her throat.

"Uh, Your Majesty?" she asked tentatively, wringing her hands together.

"Oh, me, dear? Call me Dorothy, please! I hate being called Your- My God, Bloom! Bloom dear it's been 17 years since I've seen you." She paused looking at the slightly puzzled look on the fairy's face. It dawned on her that the girl had been living on earth until she was 15, and probably had no idea who was standing in front of her.

"Bloom, dear, I'm sorry, I'm quite sure you don't know who I am!" she said, a nervous giggle in her voice.

"No, I know who you are. Miss Faragonda explained everything, but uh, I just want to know: did you know my parents?"

"Yes, of course I did. We were best friends, the four of us. That is me, your parents and my husband, God rest his soul. But yes, I knew them very well, and Sky's parents. We were all in the Company of Light together last time all this happened." Dorothy drawled, unaware that Bloom felt like she was drowning.

"Wow. And you're the Trix's mother? I did not expect that." Bloom said, immediately regretting it.

"The what? I'm assuming you mean my three daughter? It's been over ten years since I've seen them. How did they turn out? Are they lovely girls?" Bloom cringed at Dorothy's question, wondering how she would tell the woman who gave up her babies to save her kingdom that those babies had since been to prison twice and tried to take over Magix.

"They're strong, and loyal to each other. Not quite so much to anyone else, but they'd die for each other. Being under the tutelage of the ancestresses for ten years has had the effect you'd expect. They've done some pretty awful things, but I'm starting they've had some pretty awful things done to them. I'm starting to think they're not that bad, actually."

"Good. I didn't expect them to be model citizens, I mean, I gave them to the evillest witches to ever live. God, I've missed them. Icy must be what, twenty, now?"

"Twenty-one. I think. Do you want to go up now?" Bloom asked, realising that the witches' mother may well cry on her any second. Dorothy nodded absent-mindedly in response and followed Bloom silently up the stairs.

…..

The shock still hung in the air in the library when Bloom and Dorothy arrived. The witches, pale and, for the first time since the Winx had known them, terrified, sat noiselessly, each staring at a different point in space. None of them looked up when the heavy oak door, suddenly the only thing with any substance to it, slammed shut, and Dorothy burst into the room, skirts flowing behind her. They didn't react when she let out a pained gasp. They didn't seem to hear her when she said their names, her voice soaked in yearning. Only her touch made them move, made them see reality again.

In all the time she could remember, no one had ever hugged Icy before. Everyone she met was driven to maddening fear by her power, her cold voice and her blazing eyes, filled with rage. She had never known the warmth of human contact, never known the beauty of a loving embrace, even her own sisters had never hugged her. They didn't do that. But now, under the burning stares of the six fairies she hated most in all Magix, her unfeeling ex-headmistress and her sisters, the only people she'd ever had care about her, in their own twisted way, she felt everything more sharply than she ever had before. The smoothness of her mother's skin, the warmth of her body. And it melted her icy heart.

Slowly, as if time had braked to a painful rate, she moved her sluggish arm across her mother's back, pulling the woman more tightly to her than she felt possible. Every defence, every impenetrable wall of ice she had built in the last sixteen years since she left her mother, came crumbling down. Her other hand shot quickly out, flailing in the empty air behind her, reaching for her sisters' hands. Darcy's warm hand met hers gently, and Stormy's soon followed.

She pulled her sisters into a hug. A family hug. They'd never had one of these before.

"You've grown up beautifully." Dorothy said, her voice hoarse and tired. Still to shocked to speak, the Trix released their mother from their arms and blinked at her. The three girls all wore matching expressions of dazed joy, their lips tilted into grins, no malice in their eyes. Behind them, Lisa Faragonda beckoned her fairies to leave. The girls followed her out quietly, each, except Flora, who had a single happy tear rolling down her cheek, gawking at the witches as they went. Only Bloom stayed behind, too shocked to move. Griffin stayed also, a hand resting on Bloom's shoulder. Guilt rose in her chest.

"So, mom," it was Darcy who finally broke the silence, tripping over the word 'mom', as if it didn't quite fit in her mouth, "what happened?" she couldn't find one short sentence to ask all the questions firing themselves at her tongue. Pain flashed through Dorothy's eyes as she replied.

"It was the only way I could keep everyone safe. If you were fighting with them, they wouldn't hurt you, at least until I could find you again. And they wouldn't attack our kingdom. If they had, our people would have met the same fate as Sparx." She had still failed to notice Bloom in the shadows of an un-destroyed bookcase. "Your power is greater than you know, so I had to keep you safe. I asked Elena to look out for you, and she informed me every day about you when you arrived as freshman at Cloud Tower. She expelled you for your safety, so people wouldn't ask too many questions. It was always the eventual plan to have you fight for our side. You're my girls." Tears brimmed in her eyes when she finished, the terrible guilt over giving up her children threatening to destroy her for the thousandth time. Hundreds of questions still buzzed through the witches' minds, but only one made its way to the surface: "what do we do now?"

"You stay here. _We_ stay here, with the fairies, until the ancestresses can be destroyed. Then you come home, if you want. To Whisperia and the castle. And me." Her eyes were full of hope. It suddenly dawned on the girls what she was saying: she was the queen, so they were princesses.

"Mom," Stormy said. She'd been quiet until this point, unsure of what to say to the woman she'd been separated from at just three years old, "we're not princesses. We're bad people, you don't want us in your nice, shiny castle."

"Yes I do. More than anything. And yes, you are. You don't have to be all frilly dresses, y'know." She expelled a nervous laugh. The girls, still looking unsure, tried to imagine a life of never having to move every month, hiding in the shadows before being forced back to hell. A life of having actual parents, an actual home, and actual crowns. An especially terrifying thought hit Icy: unless, by some miracle her mother had another, older child, she would be queen one day.

"You girls," Griffin interrupted, making everyone but Bloom start, "have not made the best decisions in your lives. But mostly, through no fault of your own. The vilest witches ever to exist raised you, and, to my knowledge, you have never killed anyone. You may have reigned the halls of Cloud Tower with iron fists, but, that aside, nothing you have ever done has truly been your own decision. So, I would say you are, in fact, not bad people."

The three girls smiled gratefully at Griffin, who covered the distance between them in a few long paces, and pulled them into a suffocating hug. The five of them laughed heartily, for the first time in a very long time, the Trix realised.

"Now I think," Elena said, "we should get your four settled, I sense this is going to be a _very_ long few weeks. And I think Ms Faragonda has an announcement to make. Bloom, how do you think your classmates will react to this development?"

Bloom blushed at the thought of what her fellow fairies were going to say about the Trix living under the same roof as them. The trio who had attacked them countless times, stolen the Dragon Fire, worked with Darkar and Valtor and, most recently, the ancestresses themselves, and who wielded a deadly power. Not so well was perhaps the most obvious answer.

The Trix seemed to have reached the same conclusion, as their faces, in almost practiced synchronicity, drained of whatever little colour they had regained. God, fairies everywhere, being kind. A mother they never knew they had, or missed with the fierce longing that was now in each of their shrivelled hearts. And, quite possibly worst of all, the prospect of facing their old mistresses as allies of Sparx.

Or so Darcy thought; until her mother said: "Darcy, darling. How's Riven?"


	5. Chapter 5

"You three follow Palladium to your room, and I'll be there soon, okay?" Dorothy hugged each of her daughters in turn as she gave them gentle instruction. They nodded, some life beginning to return to the way in which they moved. Watching the witches round the corner, Dorothy slipped silently into Faragonda's office and clicked the door shut behind her. The look of pure supressed rage on her middle daughter's face when she'd mentioned Riven had been enough to make her leave the subject, her mind formulating wild theories while her mouth exchanged emotional pleasantries, desperate to pry some more.

What had happened to those two?

She remembered a four-year-old Darcy, months before she had lost her, running clumsily after Riven, who had already started to grow into his strength. The girl wasn't nearly as fast as him, but she was cunning, and as soon as she had caught him, she whipped the phantom blade from his grasp and pressed it against his neck. Every inch the graceful witch she had grown into.

On the veranda, Dorothy and her beloved husband sat, sharing shockingly expensive wine with Riven's parents. The picture of tranquillity.

It was clear to her that Darcy did not remember their blossoming friendship, but she still had high hopes that they would rekindle it. Let it morph into something more fitting of a nearly-twenty-year-old princess.

Her somewhat fantastical thought pattern stopped abruptly as her old friends all fell silent. The gravity of the impending situation hung over everything and everyone in the room. She quietly took a seat at the back of the horseshoe surrounding Faragonda's desk, waiting for anyone to break the horrendously weighty silence.

"So, you know why you have been called here." Lisa began, eying every person sat before her. "Now that Icy, Darcy and Stormy have left the ancestral witches service, it will not be long at all before they go on the offensive. We must be ready for them when they do. I suggest the immediate reforming of the Company of Light."

Lachrymose cheers echoed around the room. They had defeated evil as a unit before, and they would do it again.

"And Dorothy, for their safety, I also ask that you all stay here. I wondered, if, perhaps, it might be beneficial to the girls attending lessons. Most of Cloud Tower are now here, due to recent events. If they are to fight alongside the Winx, they must get to know them as friends, not as enemies." Faragonda grew more sure of herself through every letter, and ended with her head held high, strength filling her eyes. The company nodded emphatically. Griffin kept silent, now-familiar guilt pushing the air from her.

"Then it is decided. I will make the announcement to the whole school tomorrow morning during assembly. Don't worry about them, Dorothy dear, we are, as it happens expecting an early arrival for next year. Her parents are leaving for a royal tour. They won't be alone in this."

Smiling appreciatively at her friend, Dorothy rose, gliding from the room to the rooms where her daughters awaited her. As she strode, she passed a gaggle of fairies, gossiping fiercely amongst themselves, a particularly raucous blonde one throwing her head back in laughter, another with bouncing pigtails glaring into space. Bloom trailed behind them, a dejected look on her usually forceful face.

In her head she mulled over everything that had happened that day. Her three daughters, thought to her to be lost forever when she had failed to recover them, had returned to her, now grown women with a dangerous and evil past. They had, according to Griffin, summoned the Army of Decay, worked to bring the Ultimate Power into the hands of the Lord of Shadowhaunt, and aided Valtor in stealing power from throughout the Magical Dimension. They had terrorised the halls of Cloud Tower, stolen the Dragon Fire and used their own well of power to bring destruction everywhere they went. But they were her babies. The only things she had in the whole world after her husband's violent and untimely death at the hands of the woman who had stolen her daughters, and the sixteen years that followed shut away in her castle, her realm at the very edge of the dimension falling into quiet disrepair.

She arrived out the dorm where her daughters had been taken. The thought of seeing them alone suddenly became terrifying. She didn't know them. Her own daughters were strangers to her.

She spun on her heel, a pang of shame in her chest. She needed some air. Like a beacon of hope and relief, the front doors opened at the foot of the stars.

Tomorrow was going to be a rough day for everyone, especially for them.

After the stories she'd heard, she doubted her girls were welcome anywhere near this place.

…

Having spent the morning in a dark library, compressed by a cloud of unspoken things, the sun burned the Winx's eyes as they stepped out into the quad, the specialists waiting in formation for them.

"I can't wait to see Sky after this morning." Bloom said wearily, pulling away from her friends and skipping to her waiting boyfriend. Stella did the same, her blonde hair flapping wildly behind her in the stiflingly warm breeze. In a well-practiced manoeuvre, she jumped gracefully into Brandon's arms, who spun her around, placing her gently into the seat of his bike. Bloom attempted it, but Sky only just caught her in time, flinging her into his bike seat. She giggled brightly, and opened her mouth in preparation for an enthusiastic story.

Flora timidly waved at Helia, throwing herself casually into his strong arms. Running a hand through her cropped hair, Timmy awkwardly took Tecna's hand. She grinned, her cheeks burning red. Riven and Musa, having recovered from their most recent spat, kissed lightly, Riven's face steely as ever, trying to maintain his lone wolf exterior.

Bloom's stunned voice cut through all their moments.

"Ok, guys. Update time! You are never going to guess what happened!"

"What? What was so important that you're cutting into valuable picnic time?" Sky joked.

"It's worth it, trust me. The Trix's mother is here!" her eyes widened, everyone suitably shocked.

"What? Where? Who is she?" Sky responded.

"Get this guys: she's the queen of Whisperia. She gave them up to the ancestresses when they were little to protect them. Now they've come back, they're gunna fight with us. Their powers are, like, the total opposite of mine. It's called the Shadow Fire, you remember, Darkar had it?"

"No way. That's too weird!" Brandon added, running a hand through his hair.

"Yeah, I know. It gets worse, they're gunna be staying here. With us." Bloom said, visibly remembering each and every time Icy had attempted to freeze her.

"Hey! It might be better than you think," Flora interrupted, an unusual level of force in her voice, "they've been through a lot today, and they've just met their mom for the first time in 16 years!"

Everyone was silent. She had a point. All silently agreeing to not mob the witches just for being there, they moved on to speculating various theories as to what would happen next, until a woman he'd almost forgotten existed hove into Riven's line of sight.

Suddenly very aware of Musa's presence next to him, and every moment of his short-lived relationship with Darcy coming rushing back to him, he mentally groaned as Dorothy pulled him into a bone-crushing hug.

"Riven. How are you?" she asked.

"I'm, uh, good, thanks. Uh, Your Majesty."

A collective look of shocked realisation appeared on everyone's face as it dawned on them who was standing before them. They all stiffened slightly.

"Dorothy, please. You know me too well for 'Your Majesty'. It has been a while, though, I'll grant you that."

"It has." He suddenly couldn't find any more words.

"I am sorry; I have to stop doing this. I must start introducing myself! I'm Dorothy and, if you're the famous Winx, as I'm assuming you are, then you know my daughters. Quite well, I'm informed." She paused, a look of anticipation in her eyes. The crows nodded, dumbfounded. Sensing the tension, Dorothy continued,

"So, Riven, as my daughter wouldn't tell me anything, I'll ask you. Have you spoken to Darcy recently? You used to be quite the pair, if memory serves me correctly."

All sense of calm and guardedness left Rive in that moment. He had remembered since he'd first laid eyes on the beautiful brunette on his first Day at Red Fountain, the witch already a sophomore. The day she'd vanished from his life had been a dark one, one that had helped him to became the reserved loner he was then. He could feel the anger rising in Musa's body, who remembered better than anyone the torturous few months Darcy and Riven had been an item.

"Not really. She left school a few years ago, I haven't really been on talking terms with her since then. Before that, uh, we hung out. Sometimes. I don't think she remembers, if I'm honest."

"No, I know she doesn't. Oh, I do wish you'd be friends like you used to be. Your parents think you'd made quite a couple; you know?" He groaned internally.

"Yes, they have mentioned that actually. But, uh, I don't think that would be a good idea. By the way, have you met my girlfriend? Musa?"

"Oh dear, I am sorry, have I made this awkward? Sorry, my dear. I feel as though I may have touched a nerve, so I will pry no further, and go inside. See you soon, Riven. Bloom, Sky." She nodded at the dazed couple, hugged Riven again and bustled away, leaving the crowd of Winx and specialists, open-mouthed and trying desperately to piece things together.

"So, when you spent months sucking face with that evil bitch, you never thought to mention you two were friends? That her mother wanted you to marry her?" Musa hissed. The other fairies, along with their other halves, backed away slowly, taking a firm and sudden interest in the grass behind them.

"I didn't think it mattered! It's not like I ever speak to her anymore! And her parents don't want us to get married, she just likes us as friends." Riven retorted, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Oh come on, I can practically see it on her face! I thought we agreed to be honest, Riven! How can it possibly _not matter_?!" she yelled, getting in his face.

The fighting still ringing in their ears, the other gave up on the idea of a picnic, instead slipping silently back into the building, leaving the again estranged couple to yell.

It seems a certain witch was again causing relationship problems for Riven. And she didn't even know it.


	6. Chapter 6

After three days, the Trix were ready to get the hell out of Alfea. Whilst it took no small amount of convincing from Faragonda and Bloom to get the Winx to accept them as their guests, the five girls eventually softened. They'd shown them around, fended off some of the scathing looks they'd received from next to every fairy they came across, and made them a special tea they'd discovered on their travels with Valtor which, despite its connotations, was delicious to them, although it made Flora ill to think what it must taste like.

The same could not be said for everyone else. Everyone else in that wretched castle looked at them either as if they were the same power-hungry traitors they had been a year ago, or innocent puppies that could be hurt with a single glance. And they hated it.

It could have been worse, they supposed as they lounged tiredly around their room, waiting for the morning to come when they would go back to a classroom. Darcy had successfully avoided Riven and, more importantly, Musa, for the whole time since Dorothy had apologetically told her what she'd done. Icy had not killed Bloom, or thought about the even more terrifying thought that she no longer wished to. Stormy had left every single room intact without a single unwelcome hurricane.

Worst of all, they could be the new girl in the year below the Winx. The clumsy idiot spilt her coffee all over Griselda within five minutes of arriving, in full view of everyone. Griselda had, in that moment, invented a whole new shade of red.

…

A click at the door pulled them out of their moping stupor. Their mother, hair falling of her tight bun and a wild look on her soft face, burst in, a bright smile lighting up her features. She clutched a roughly drawn map of what they assumed was the path to the Obsidian Gate. Throwing herself into a battered chair next to the bed where her daughters lounged, Dorothy sighed.

"You girls okay? You've been alright today?" she cooed.

"Yeah," they said, their voices downtrodden.

"Good. I'm sorry I haven't been around much the last few days, we haven't got long." She said quietly, knowing how difficult it was going to be to get to know her girls again, knowing what they had become was her fault.

"Whatever." Stormy snapped, snapping to her feet and stalking out. Darcy looked, stuck, at Icy, whose face growled like thunder. Rolling her eyes, Darcy shot up too, running reluctantly after her petulant sister, groaning as she went.

Tears began to brim in Dorothy's eyes.

"I'm sorry I couldn't look after you three. I loved you so much, but you saw what happened to Sparx, they destroyed everything. They wouldn't have let any of you live. You were better off with them." Knowing full well this was probably not what she thought, Icy raised a tentative hand and rested it on her mother's shaking shoulder. Her eyes were wide and uncertain, but some of the cold hatred she usually felt when someone cried in front of her melted from them.

"Mom. Don't cry. I don't do crying," her voice was too harsh, so she paused, sighed silently, and continued, "please."

Dorothy looked up. Wiping away the tears rolling down her cheeks, she smiled. Taking Icy's hand in hers, she sighed away the lump in her throat that threatened more tears.

"Sorry. I know it's probably not the greatest thing: you just met a mother you didn't know you had and now she's crying on you."

"It's fine. You've probably had a long few days too." Icy said, her voice beginning to take on a sliver of genuine warmth.

"Yep. But it won't go on for much longer. We're going in a week. We'll get this over with, forever hopefully. And then, when all this is over, you can come back home. We can all go home. You'll love the palace, Ice, it's beautiful. Bit cold, but you might like that." She laughed, and Icy grinned, a proper smile for the first time in a very long time.

"I think so," she agreed. And then something hit her. Another question, that quickly wiped the smile away. "Mom, were you ever married?"

"I wondered when you'd ask me that. I was, but your father died. You can guess what happened to him." Her face straightened, a grimace replacing the joy.

"Oh. I can guess. We gunna get them back for that?" she said, her face suddenly toughening.

"Yes. Absolutely. Now, you should go to bed. You're starting classes tomorrow!"

"Don't remind me." Icy said flatly, shifting on the bed.

"Ok. I'd better go and find Stormy. I'm hoping Darcy found her before she destroyed any of Lisa's classrooms." Icy laughed, actually audibly laughed and raced from the room, her shining white hair flapping wildly behind her. Dorothy smiled through her tears as her eldest daughter left her alone, wondering how they would fare the next day, in a classroom full of unwelcoming, unforgiving faces.

…

"It wasn't my fault!" Stormy snapped, attempting in complete vain to drag a brush through her bushy mane. Icy scowled at her sister, pulling her close by the wrists, sliding a razor-sharp nail down Stormy's thunderous face, and snarled,

"Yes, it was. It's not as if she _wanted_ to abandon us! She's our mother! You can't just freeze her out!"

Recoiling, the youngest sister, strode once more for the door, cursing colourfully under her breath, running straight into Darcy, who was returning from her morning coffee run. Seeing the events which were about to transpire, Darcy growled in frustration, slamming the drinks down onto the nearest table, and dragged her two sisters onto her bed, one sitting either side.

"Listen! None of us like this! I don't want to be here with a bunch of do-gooder fairies, but it's better than the alternative! So, both of you, shut it! Stormy: she's our mom, she didn't want to leave us. Icy: she doesn't remember mom like you do, so give her a break. For once."

The two girls, looking, for the first time in their lives, ever so slightly ashamed, mumbled agreements and grabbed whatever coffee cup was the closest, and made a move for the door.

"Good. Also Ice, say 'you can't just freeze her out', again, I'm gunna make it my ringtone." Darcy chuckled darkly as they strode, side by side, down the main hallway of Alfea. Groups of fairies parted as they walked, squeaks from freshman met them at every turn, but nothing made the witches slow down. They walked with pride.

Faragonda's lecture hall lay just ahead of them. Its door was battered and old, but it exuded an air of wisdom that Faragonda carried with her everywhere. The three girls forced the door open and strode in, with every bit of confidence that they showed at Cloud Tower, but mixed, this time, with small undertones of humility.

A thousand pairs of eyes seemed to burn into them as they entered, following them to the unremarkable seats at the back of the room that they took, and setting into them when they sat. Across the room, the Winx girls sat in a single row, all absent-mindedly reading from a textbook, except Stella, who laid layer after layer of concealer under her twinkling eyes. Most of them looked on, a bored, blank expression on their faces, except Bloom, whose eyes flashed momentarily with sympathy, but soon returned to their usual fiery brightness.

"Now, girls," Miss Faragonda trilled as she strode into the lecture hall, "settle down. Quiet down. Now, it's been an exciting few days, but I do hope you will be over it soon. We have important work to do. Today, we shall be looking at dark energy, something that lies inside you all in varying measures. The first thing I should like you to do is to think. Remember. Something bad, anything bad, something that, maybe, you found…upsetting, irritating, anything that made you feel something negative." She clapped her hands together and a bright smile appeared on her face, as if she had just set the fairies – and witches – some great, joyful mission.

A moment of silence filled the room as the students fell deep into thought, and, when they had at last each found one, Faragonda rose from her seat on the edge of the desk and laughed.

"Brilliant! Now, it's best if you all spread out a bit for this part. On the back rows, come to front - yes that's it, well done. Now then, hands together, lots of concentration. Concentrate on that memory, how it felt, what happened, how you reacted. Channel it. Now, when you feel the energy in your hands, pull them apart. Let's see how much dark energy you hold."

Some of the fairies relished the idea, eager to see what potential for chaos, harmless in that room, lay inside them. Others, namely Flora who stood, giggling without a modicum of darkness in her aura, were not so keen. At the back, several pairs of eyes now locked on them yet again, the Trix stood with their pulsing balls of dark energy, suddenly desperate to rid themselves of their great dark powers.

Faragonda, seeing the glaring fairies, began to wonder at the suitability of her lesson plan. Knowing it was too late to reverse, she resigned herself to as little eye contact to the back of the room and as few group exercises as humanly possible during the rest of the class. It was during her planning as to how she could do this that an outraged shriek caught her attention. Amaryl was sat on the edge of her seat, dazed, her hair that Faragonda privately believed looked a tiny bit like a beanie hat rippling with electricity, eyes wide. Stormy stood beside her, breathless and staring at the girl in disbelief.

"What is going on?" Faragonda enquired, her voice neutral.

"She zapped me!" Amaryl squealed, gesturing sharply to her buzzing hair. Unsure she could contain her rage, Stormy wisely kept her mouth shut, something she had never done before. Icy, on the other hand, did no such thing. She barged roughly past a nearby fairy, who yelped but did not protest.

"Don't you fucking dare," she hissed, "she didn't mean to. I would have. But she didn't. So back off."

"Now girls-" Faragonda, her tone calm, set about curbing the waiting disaster, but a whining voice cut her off.

"I'll say what I want to _you three_ , this is _our_ school, who even invited you here?" Amaryl demanded, her words whipping up murmurs from the other students, rallying her support.

"Ok, first of all, 'us three'? What did I do?!" Darcy spat, "More importantly, we had to come here. It's not like we had much of a choice. They…" for the first time in her life, she was unsure of herself. "They would have killed us."

Silence, think with tension, fell across the room. Then Amaryl broke through it.

"Well, maybe they should have."


	7. Chapter 7

The meeting hall, ensconced in the earth as it was, was damp, cold and unwelcoming. Since the defeat of Valtor all those years ago, the Company had retreated to being a dormant entity, losing their sync as a group. Not risking being caught in battle without proper Convergence, they had been forced underground.

Tightly coiled hair bristling in the breeze without any particular source, Elena Griffin strode towards the rotting door where the rest of the Company of Light awaited her arrival. She slipped gracefully into her seat between Faragonda and Saladin, her unspoken designation. At the table's head, Dorothy wore a grave countenance.

"Now, we are facing a serious situation," Dorothy began, her voice empty and reedy. "the ancestral witches will likely not wait more than a few days before launching an attack on Magix. We need to do something to stop this before they get here, or else, it'll be too late."

"What _can_ we do?" someone asked. Looking around the table of largely familiar faces, Dorothy saw one she had never seen before. It was the face of a young man, chiselled and handsome but lacking in any of Saladin's brilliance or Oritel's gallantry. She made a mental note to ask Elena about him after the meeting.

"We'll have to go into Obsidian. It'll be tricky and very dangerous, but we'll have to if we want to head them off. And we'll have to go soon." Dorothy said. There was a murmur of reluctant agreements around the table.

"When?" was all Faragonda, who was clearly preoccupied with something weighing of her bustling mind.

"Tomorrow night. It's as long as we can put it off. We'll take the Winx, _if_ they are willing. The specialists. _If_ they are willing. And Dorothy, your daughters, _if_ they are willing. They're not ones to run away from a fight, but they might want to sit this one out." Griffin replied, daring anyone to contradict her.

"Agreed. Now, I suggest we all go and try to enjoy tonight while we can," Saladin chuckled, leaning against his staff.

"Absolutely," Faragonda agreed. As people began to leave, she added, "Dorothy, may I speak to you? About your girls?"

"Of course," she replied, her voice coated with apprehension.

…

Under the warm, bright lights of the students' common room, Stella groaned.

"Why does Amaryl have to be like that? Is it 'cause she dresses badly? It can make or break a girl's day!"

"Somehow, Stell, I don't think so," Bloom replied, running her fingers through her mane of fiery hair.

"I'm just sayin'! Makes you feel bad." Stella muttered to herself.

"Yeah, well something tells me she doesn't feel as bad as the witches feel right now. Y'know, I never, _ever_ , thought I'd say this, but I feel bad for them." Bloom mused, absently waving at the rest of the Winx approaching them. Accompanied by a new girl. Allie. The girl's face was still red from the coffee incident. Oh boy.

"Yeah, I mean, me too. That was way too far!" Stella cried out, indignantly.

"What was way too far?" Musa asked, throwing herself down onto the couch beside Bloom.

"What Amaryl said in class today. I hear Faragonda only just stopped yelling at her." Bloom explained, irately pushing Stella's legs, which were currently lounging across her own, onto the sofa.

"Oh, my gosh, I know! I couldn't believe her!" Flora's melodic voice added.

"We really should do something for them, but, from what I hear, they won't be here much longer." Stella said. Bloom glared at her.

"What do you mean?" Layla asked.

"Faragonda thinks we should go to Obsidian tomorrow." Stella informed them, earning a sharp whack from Bloom.

"Hey, what was that for?!" Stella shrieked.

"Stella, we weren't supposed to overhear that!" Bloom hissed.

"So, they might as well know! Besides, we were gonna have to fight them sooner or later! I don't see the harm in doing it sooner!" she insisted, making Bloom's face flush with embarrassment as she realised her friend might be right.

"Still, Obsidian!" Flora squeaked, hands over her mouth in horror.

"Uh-huh. I thought we might have to, as soon as I heard of it, which, I'll admit wasn't long ago, but still." Bloom said. The group descended into hushed chattering over what they would do, how they would do it, and whether the witches were trusted allies. It was at that point that Tecna, who had remained calm and collected up to that moment, interrupted.

"As important and statistically likely to fail as this is, I believe we're forgetting something. Bloom, you've already met Allie, but Stella, Flora, Musa, Layla: this is Allie. She's new."

The group collectively smiled as one, which made Allie shrink into the couch a little, but she mostly stood her ground and waved a timid greeting. All desperately trying to pretend they hadn't seen the incident with Griselda and the coffee, they began their 'hellos'.

After five minutes of inane grinning and Stella's incessant commentary on what colours would go well with Allie's brilliant black hair, Layla said,

"I told Allie we'd show her the town. Tomorrow. Morning, I'm thinking." There was hint of sarcasm in her voice as she spoke. The girls nodded in agreement, cooing over how much she would love it. They sat like that for the rest of the evening.

Eventually, the Winx got tired of gossip, laughing and trying to forget their impossible task, more than likely for the coming day.

"Well, I'm going to bed," Flora giggled, after hours sat in the common room, deflecting Stella's backhanded compliments with all her will. She stretched, yawning widely, and made for the door. Musa and Tecna rose to join her, waving goodbye to their friends.

"I'm gonna go, too," Bloom said, practically dragging Stella from the couch where she slept deeply, talking nonsense into her arm.

"Okay, you go too, Layla, if you like. I'm fine here." Allie chimed, flashing Layla her best grin.

"Okay then, if you're sure." Layla replied, waving as the three girls trailed each other out of the common room.

Allie smiled. It had been a good day. New friends, a day of carefree fun to look forward to the next day. Finally, some people who didn't remember the coffee incident. Everything was going perfectly.

She took her phone out of her pocket, a recent procurement from an obliging helper, and looked up the right number, typing in her message.

And…send.

To Darcy.


	8. Chapter 8

The following day was the start of a long weekend, and a much-welcomed break from the tedious hardships of their two days at Alfea. Leaving Icy and Stormy to sulk and fight in their room, Darcy headed into town, on the call of a text from an old friend. Apparently. She knew nothing of her dear friendship with Riven, but the moment she met him, on the floor of Alfea, knocked out by their hilarious little trick, she had felt it. Deep inside her, she felt it.

And so she strode, head held high, through the main street of Magix, to the door of _their_ café. The hub of all young witch-kind in the city. The place where she had spelled Riven into loving her. Tricked him. And now, for the first time in her life, she felt remorse, guilt that pushed deeper into her mind as she saw him, his red hair slicked back off his face, leaning casually against the back of his chair.

She slipped through the door and shut it behind her. Strutting over to the table, where two drinks already stood, she flashed Riven her signature haughty grin and sat down.

"So, you wanted to see me?" she drawled.

" _You_ wanted to see _me_ , I think." He said, the sarcasm in his voice riling up something primal and mischievous inside her, the fire in her heart blazing.

"Whatever. So, are we friends now? Cuz I thought our whole 'hating-each-other' deal worked pretty well." She sneered at him, her eyes not reflecting her cruel tone.

"It did, it was great. But I remember when we were little. You might not, in fact I'm sure you don't, but I do. That was great too." He refused to look her in the eye, his manly demeanour fading.

"Well, you're right, I don't remember. And, since I'm not, strictly speaking, 'evil' anymore, I guess having…friends, wouldn't be such a bad thing. You're not nearly as pathetic as most of the people at school." Darcy mused, knowing her sisters would bully her endlessly for this.

"Wow, thanks(!) How are you not the most popular girl at Alfea?" he quipped, seeing the girl visibly relax.

"I am! Bitch! Anyway, you can talk, half of Red Fountain's scared to talk to you!" Darcy retorted. Her eyebrows danced and her eyes twinkled with something less sinister than their usual malice.

"Like you said, I am! Why's that a bad thing? You made the whole realm scared of you, and you've done pretty well for yourself!" he laughed, and she joined him, sipping carefully at her drink.

"Mm, thanks for this, by the way. That is true, but not at this precise moment, wouldn't you say?" Darcy asked.

"Ok, not quite now. But, generally. And maybe, when this is over, you might…go back home? And we can…" he trailed off, suddenly and unexplainably unsure of himself.

"Sure. I guess. Whatever. Anyway, since when are you the sentimental type?" Darcy said, her voice clipped and her emotions angered at being exposed.

"I'm not, it's just…you suit me more than most people I know." Riven muttered. Darcy, looking at him with intent, burst out laughing. Her laugh, her real, genuine, unencumbered laugh, was lyrical and cute, something she regretted ever showing Icy, who mocked it cruelly.

"I thought I might. What about Musa? Does she suit you a little too much?" Darcy asked, remembering the blazing arguments that the couple used to have, their domineering and confident personalities clashing at every turn.

"A little. I mean, I love her, but she can be a bit too…"

"Like you?" Darcy finished for him.

"Yep!" Riven laughed. The two sat there for a long time, laughing at each other, their bonds cementing after fifteen long years apart and as enemies. After a few minutes of hurried life stories, Riven groaned. His phone lit up with a message from Sky.

"What is it?" Darcy asked, sipping her drink.

"I've gotta go, stay here, I'll be back. Sky just needs some help with something." Riven said, grabbing his jacket and slipping out of the door.

…

"Stella, slow down!" Tecna yelled after her, as the blonde girl strode down the street, eager to reach her favourite store, the new dresses crying out to her.

"No! Hurry up!" Stella demanded. As they passed the witches' café, Musa ran up behind Stella, grabbing her by the wrist.

"Wait! We can't-" her lecture was cut off by the most gut-wrenching sight catching her eye. Inside the café, at a small table near the centre, Darcy and Riven sat together, their words obviously clipped but their body language relaxed and open. They laughed. And Musa's heart leapt in anger.

"He's with her. Again." She choked, hated tears wanting to force their way down her cheeks.

"Who?" Allie asked, not remembering the events of their adventurous first year, and glad of it.

"Darcy" Bloom replied for her, knowing only one thing that had made Musa's voice take on that hollow quality in the time she had known her.

"I can't watch this!" Musa cried, breaking into a run in the opposite direction. She turned down a small side street, and disappeared from sight.

"Let's go! We have to follow her!" Flora exclaimed, leading the rest of them in the race to catch up with her. They sprinted, almost in formation, after the music fairy, down a maze of side streets, main streets and seedy alleys. She was fast, but, to the surprise of most of the Winx, Tecna was faster, and soon grabbed Musa roughly by the arm, making her face them.

"Stop! Musa, just stop! It's okay, just stop running." Bloom told her.

"I just…she nearly ruined his life once before! I'm not watching her do it again!" Musa sobbed, finally letting her tears freely.

"I know, and we'll do something. But for now, I'm gonna call Brandon and his ship to come and get us. They'll be here in a few minutes." Stella said, pulling out her phone while Flora pulled Musa into a tight hug.

They sat and waited, in the quiet of the street, until the subdued whirring sounded overhead. The Winx cheered lightly as the ship landed, Musa's drying tears the only slight noise otherwise. The runway opened with a small 'whoosh' and Brandon strode down the steps, the slight breeze making his brown locks fly.

"Ladies. In need to transportation?" Brandon joked, pulling Stella close.

"Yes, please." Tecna said loudly, ushering the other girls in the direction of the ship.

"Whoa, Musa, what's up?" Brandon asked, his eyes widening.

"Riven's with Darcy, again." Layla replied.

"What?" the specialist gasped, disbelieving at Riven's stupidity.

"It's true," Allie added, pausing as if in deep thought, then adding, "except she isn't _with_ him, idiots. She's doing it again. It was a good plan, so we thought we'd use it again."

"What? What did you say?" Bloom hissed.

"It was a plan. Oh, poor Riven has _no_ idea. That girl's good, isn't she?" Allie chuckled, playing with her hair.

"Who the hell are you?" Layla demanded, taking a threatening stance.

"Me? Oh, don't you remember? Bloom, you've seen me in your dreams." The girl replied.

"I don't…" Bloom whispered, staring in horror as her slender, small form morphed, in light and darkness at the same time, into the form of another, more sinister foe.

"My name is Mandragora, Keeper of the Obsidian Circle." The girl replied, her face now far older and meaner than it had ever before appeared.

"Now, don't bother with your little 'transformation', you won't need it. Bloom, if you wish for your friend to live, get inside the ship," Mandragora pulled from her suit a sharp and gleaming dagger. "Go!" she shrieked, thrusting in Flora's direction, who was now trembling in fear.

"Now! The rest of you, stay here. _I'm_ going to help my mistresses at your pathetic little school, and if any of _you_ show up to help them, I will kill you personally. Got it?!" she spat, triggering the closing ship door, sealing Bloom inside the ship.

Its engines flared, and it burst to life.

It vanished, leaving the Winx without the Dragon Flame.


	9. Chapter 9

"You coming with me? Stella wants us to come and get them." Brandon asked, pulling on a fresh shirt and grabbing his phone off his bed.

"No, I'm gonna go see the witches. Did you hear what Amaryl said to them?!" Sky replied, his anger at the fairy surprising him with its intensity.

"M'kay. See ya." Called Brandon, leaving.

"Bye."

…

In the common room, ensconced in a secluded, dark corner, the witches lay strewn across a couch, leaning nonchalantly against the back. When Sky swaggered in, they looked up sharply. The looks on their faces was pinched and told of a tiring and mentally tedious few days, so Sky shot them his best and brightest smile.

"Alright, ladies?" he remarked, taking a casual seat beside Icy, who took a sharp intake of breath.

"What do you what, pretty boy?" Icy drawled, sitting up, sensing a challenge.

"I'm not here for a fight, Icy, I am, god help me, checking you're okay." Sky retorted, mockingly placing his head in his hands.

"Don't go getting sentimental, Your Highness, I'm not Bloom." Icy hissed.

"No, no you certainly aren't," he laughed, "I'd say you two are more like Diaspro."

At this, Stormy physically recoiled.

"Ew! No way! Absolutely no way!" she said with venom, clearly not aimed at Sky.

"Wow, you guys really hate Diaspro? I mean, she _was_ pretty awful, but I always thought you got along well!" Sky exclaimed, silently revelling in the knowledge that even the Trix, until recently the most evil witches ever to grace the halls of Cloud Tower, hated her.

"Oh yeah! She's a bitch alright. Like, even more than me." Icy told him. Stormy sniggered.

"So not true!" Sky chuckled, and Icy flung a hand out to slap him. He caught her wrist in his strong grip and placed it delicately back where it came from. She scowled at him.

"He's right, though." Stormy informed her sister.

"Oh, like you can talk!" Icy snapped.

"Ladies, no fighting! Wow…you're actually alright." Sky mused, realising for the first time that he was having a nice conversation with those who had been his enemy for so long.

"Well, duh!" Stormy said, "you were all just too horribly lame to notice!"

Sky's phone lit up and buzzed as they laughed. He stopped to read the message – from Brandon – and felt his face drop into one of burning fury.

"What did you do?" he hissed at the two witches, whose faces drained of colour.

"W-what do you mean?" Icy stammered.

"That," he said, brandishing his phone at them, "was from Brandon. He said that the girls' new friend – 'Allie' – was working with you. It's Mandragora. We _trusted_ you! Now she and Darcy are taking Bloom to the ancestresses. You're so gonna pay for that." His voice was now dangerously quiet, his lips pursed and his eyes blazing. Pulling the hilt from his hip, his sword flashed to life and rested calmly in front of Stormy's face, his gaze daring her to try something.

Cold pain crept through his shoulder as a bolt of ice struck him, so raw he barely heard Icy's prickly words.

"Don't. You. Dare. Y'know, I don't blame you for not trusting us really. I don't really care if you don't believe we're not doing anything. But, just don't."

"What the hell is going on here?! Sky!" Dorothy yelled, almost disbelievingly, from the doorway.

Behind her, the rest of the Company filed in, each with their own angry and incredulous looks on their faces. Dorothy stood at the front of the group, impatiently awaiting an answer from the Prince of Eraklyon.

"It's them! They're still helping the ancestresses!" he yelled, gesturing a shaky hand at the two witches. "Mandragora has Bloom. It was… It was Allie." A tear rolled down his cheek as he spoke, his voice cracking.

"Girls? Please, please tell me this isn't true!" Dorothy sobbed.

"Of course it's not." Icy snapped, glaring Sky into a transfixed state.

"It so is." Stella's voice rang sharply through the room. At the door, the Winx, minus Bloom, stood in battle formation. They strode into the centre of the room, which the Company readily gave to them.

"Mandragora told us everything. It was clever, I'll admit, but it is true." Tecna explained.

"It doesn't surprise me," Saladin added, stepping forward to square up to the witch who destroyed his school. "Sky, lock them up."

A collective cheer roared through the room from relieved and malicious fairies, broken every few seconds by Dorothy's pained cries. The witches didn't bother protesting, only hoping that Mandragora didn't find Darcy.

Echoing footsteps sounded from the hall as momentary silence fell across the room. The young man from the Company meeting, hair flying, hurried into the room, brandishing a piece of paper.

"Professor Griffin, I have-" he stopped as a flash of recognition fell over Icy's face.

"You!" she shrieked, making to lunge for him, only to be restrained by Sky.

"What, you spoilt brat? What is it?!" Sky snapped, yanking her backwards.

"It's not us," she stated calmly, "it's him. It's Valtor."

"Who?" the man asked, taking a step backwards.

"Don't play dumb with us, you bastard." Stormy yelled, forcing her hands out of Sky's strong grip and throwing a jet of power at the man. His body jerked and contorted, morphing in and out of shape.

Until he took the form Valtor.

A low, menacing chuckle came from him as he clapped, a slow, reverberating sound.

"Well done," he drawled, "very good. I guess I was wrong, I told the coven that you were stupid. Now, I suppose I'm helping you out here, but I have what I need, and I think it'll hurt these pathetic children more if they watch their _friends_ die instead of their enemies. You surely must have known what would happen if you chose to run?"

The two girls nodded meekly.

"Wait, they were actually trying to kill you?" Amaryl squeaked from the other side of the room, her face ghostly pale.

"Yes, yes they were," Valtor carried on, "and now they will. Now, just to clarify, they _are_ on your side, little pixies, but since you'll never see them again, I guess it doesn't matter."

He moved to cast his spell, to build a way to contain the witches.

When, breathless and gasping, Darcy burst through the door, her words not coming out properly.

Sky threw his gaze behind her, desperately searching for the rest of the Winx.

Icy's gaze flicked straight to the blood dripping down her sister's face.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

"God." Was all Sky could bring himself to stammer, a thousand thoughts and more whizzing through his mind. Doubled over, fighting to regain her breath, Darcy wheezed an explanation. As she talked, Griffin bound Valtor with a spell, rejoicing in his irate mumblings.

"I went…to see Riven," she gasped, straightening up a little. "in town. I thought…it was him who texted me. It was Allie, uh, Mandragora. When Riven left, he went to see you, Sky. He said you texted him?"

"No, I didn't," Sky murmured, guiltily racking his brain, searching for where Riven might be now.

"Carry on, Darcy," Griffin said, her voice uncharacteristically soft, careful, even.

"When he left, I went outside and she cornered me. I don't know what happened after that, when I woke up she was gone. Riven never came back, so I came straight here." Darcy's voice was flat, her face white.

"God," Sky repeated, playing distractedly with the tassel on his cloak.

"What do we do?" Stella exclaimed, leaping from her seat into a vivacious stance. Wave upon wave of muttering echoed around the room, finally resting between Faragonda and Sky. They shared a look, deciding in a few fleeting seconds, but it was Icy who voiced the plan first.

"We go after them," she announced, her voice as hard and cold as it ever was, eyes set in stone. The remaining fairies chorused their agreement emphatically, and Saladin nodded sagely.

"We'll have to go now," Dorothy said, the concern in her eyes giving away her total lack of confidence in Bloom's safety.

"Agreed. I'll get the ship, B, did you leave it outside?" Sky asked Brandon, who nodded silently. Sky bustled out.

"Will everyone please return to their dormitories immediately," Faragonda called calmly across the room. The fairies complied immediately, clearing the room of all except the three professors, a bound and wriggling wizard, Brandon, the Whisperian Queen and her three daughters. Silently, too stunned and confused for words, the company filed outside, where Sky waited for them, ship bay doors open wide. Faragonda had taken over Valtor duty, and gestured a hand that led him, in his binds, into a small corner of the ship, a circular cell with a sliding glass door. She shut it on him with a great deal of satisfaction.

Everyone on board, with Griselda left in charge of Alfea, the ship departed. The nearest entrance point to Obsidian sat, dormant, in Sparx' frozen wastelands, so they sailed smoothly over hills and plains and forests and cities, letting the cool breeze carry them swiftly forward, towards a great unknown looming tall above them all. Hours passed in what felt like days, nerves shivered on edge throughout.

The landscape was beautiful, pristine and lovely, as if unaware of the bitter fighting about to take place on its very surface. As they soared, however, most of the natural wonder went unnoticed, replaced instead by fever-pitched anxiety in the hearts of every single person aboard that ship. Icy shifted, eventually, when the fairies and Company were occupied with a plan of action, to the space besides Darcy, dabbing at the drying blood staining her face.

"You okay?" Icy asked gently.

"Yeah," Darcy choked. "Also, hearing you say that is like a historic event, y'know." Icy sneered, chuckling and grinning.

"I know. It doesn't suit me," Icy mused, "so, when we get there…"

"What do we do?" offered Darcy, nodding as if she had been thinking the same thing.

"Exactly." Icy confirmed.

"We fight them. We're witches, it's what we do. And, apparently, we're also princesses, and they don't back down." Darcy said, almost as if she were amused by the prospect. Icy smiled, a storm brewing inside her.

They remained quiet for the rest of the journey, only stirring when the ship shook, bouncing as it touched onto the crisp blanket of snow. The doors _whoosh_ ed open, releasing the group onto the dusty snow beneath. The archway, dancing with blacks and blues, stood ten feet away, screaming out them to stay away.

"You ready?" Griffin whispered to the witches, who hardened their faces and nodded firmly. Without giving them a chance to change their minds, Griffin and Faragonda led the rest of Company, and the Winx, through the portal.

The Trix stayed behind for a moment. The last time they had been inside Obsidian, they had been prisoners, prisoners in their own home. It was the only home they could ever remember having, and now they returned to fight alongside their sworn enemies, exacting vengeance upon the only semblance of a mother they had, until recently, ever had.

Collectively, they took a deep breath, resisting the urge to take each other's' hands, as they full well knew the Winx club would.

Once more, unto the breach.


	11. Chapter 11

**Good God I'm so sorry for not updating for nearly a year – college will do that! I am determined to get this finished before I go back, only a few more chapter to go!**

Obsidian was foul. The three witches had always known this, had felt it every single day they had spent there, wasting. But now they felt it with the eyes of outsiders, and it was no better than before. In fact, it was far, _far_ worse. As they hurried after the Winx and co, dodging branch after withered branch towards the central caves, the sisters shivered in unison, keenly remembering every hour they had ever spent longing for somewhere else to call their home, their only reprieve was the profane struggling of a still-bound Valtor.

"You three alright back there?" their mother called, with almost hysterical joviality. They each mumbled a 'yes', although they doubted whether they meant it. All too soon, the company reached a small path, compressed on either side by towering walls of slime-covered rock, which led them into a vast cavern, three gaping caves chiselled into its far wall.

The Trix shivered again.

Crimson light poured from each cave, inhuman cackling echoing within. With a deadly silence, they emerged.

"Well," Belladonna drawled agonisingly slowly, "look what we have here!"

"Mmm, very interesting. We _did_ warn them what would happen if they came back, didn't we?" her sister said, slipping with ease in and out of several petrified bodies.

"I believe so," chuckled the third witch.

"They obviously ignored us. How very rude." Belladona's tone was light, as if just discussing the weather with a stranger.

"Very rude indeed. We'd better do something about it," the second witch said, relishing her words with a near childish excitement.

"Let's," was all the third witch said before laughing her attack. A surge of power, crackling with lightening, gushed forwards, angrily colliding with the rock ahead, narrowly missing the fairies who had dodged it. This irritated the ancestresses, who growled together, before joining their magic.

"Go and find the others," Griffin commanded the Winx and Trix, "we'll hold them off." The look on her face told the girls that she was not to be argued with, so they took to the air, gliding swiftly out of the cavern and into a wide valley. The rock, looming fifty feet above them, dripped with water.

"Where do we even start?" Stella lamented.

"We'll show you where Mandragora usually hangs out, they'll probably be there. You wouldn't find it unless you were looking for it," Icy replied, not once looking any of them in the eye. Her sisters followed wordlessly, unsure how helpful she was willing to be.

They crept on foot through the boggy grounds, eventually arriving at a large area of low hanging willow trees, dead and scraggy, although still with plenty of branches. Sweeping apart the branches, Icy stepped into a sort of tunnel, so low that she had to bow her head, that opened out into another, smaller cavern. This one was surprisingly bright, homely, even. The girls stepped inside, admiring it.

Up ahead, almost at the far edge of the cavern, Mandragora stood, an amused grin dancing across her pursed lips.

"Welcome back, traitors," she purred, taking a bounding step towards them. "You know they'll kill you when they're bored playing, right?"

"They'll have to try pretty hard," Darcy snorted. Mandragora rounded on her, until Stormy's hand shot out, gripping her arm tightly and spinning her around to face the fuming witch.

"Cut the crap, Mandragora," Stormy hissed, "tell us where Bloom is." Looking over at Darcy, she rolled her eyes and added, "and Riven."

"Oh, they're right over there. Go and get them." Mandragora suddenly relaxed, stepping out of the circle now formed around her by the fairies.

Despite their immense suspicions, the girls moved cautiously towards the small hill where, upon a closer look, they found to seat Bloom and Riven. Bloom's eyes were stained with tears, her hands shaking.

But Riven's eyes were harsh, daring the two girls who now stared at him to come closer.

…

The Trix stared down the boy holding Bloom, eyes flaring, forming a barrier between Riven and the Winx. The air around them dripped with tension and hatred. Darcy internally groaned, instantly regretting for the millionth time the things she had done to the boy who was her best friend. Looking into his eyes now, she doubted they could ever get that back.

"You pixie-loving cowards want her back?" Riven's voice was deep but vacant, gripping Bloom's arms harder.

"Obviously," Icy spat, barely containing her rippling anger, not quelled at all by the events of the last few weeks.

"Well, then," a voice chuckled from behind the group, "you three had better come with us, then." Mandragora and Valtor strode out from behind a cluster of wilting trees, joyless grins plastered on their lips.

"My mistresses have been looking very hard for you three," Mandragora drawled, "I never liked you. You were so entitled. You've never worked for anything, you just expected it all to fall into your path. I hated you. And now I get to hand you over for what you really deserve," she cackled, the madness in her eyes never more evident. The Trix felt each Winx girl flinch at the sharpness of the witch's laughter.

"Don't touch them," Bloom spluttered, pre-occupied with the pressure of Riven's hands on her arms. As much as she hated to admit it, it warmed Icy's frozen heart to hear.

"Oh, changed your mind, fairy? I've heard you every day for three years say that you hated these three traitors." The witch spat. She moved forward, stepping deliberately toward the Trix, backed firmly by the Winx but none of them daring to move.

"Alright then, if you won't come with me to save darling Bloom, as I suspected you wouldn't, then I'll have to take you with me forcefully," the power she had been given rippled around her. Preparing to take a precisely aimed shot, Mandragora pulled back her lip and growled.

She was stopped by an almighty rumbling, followed swiftly by Belladonna's distinct screeching. The rocky side to the cavern caved in, rock flying. Everyone ducked and flung up hands to cover their heads as three flickering shapes blundered through the collapsed wall.

The Company of Light flew after them, shots of light and dark flying. The witches shrieked, more maniacally than Icy had ever heard them, and it frightened her. She had felt fear only a handful of times in her life, but that was the worst. The realisation that these were not people that could be manipulated or reasoned with, but creatures that wanted her – and her family – dead.

A wayward shot Riven squarely in the chest, causing him to release his prisoner. Bloom, stumbling roughly down a small incline, fell into Darcy's waiting arms, dragging her towards them.

"Take her out of her!" Dorothy commanded, her airy voice suddenly deep and sure. Nodding to her mother, Icy gripped Bloom by the wrist and began to make their way quickly and quietly towards the passageway towards the portal, still waiting in the darkness outside. Making it across the passage, they found themselves once again in the vast cavern lined by the three caves in which their ancestors existed.

"Come on, fairy, move," Stormy growled as Bloom began to fall behind. Icy gave her a look, almost, _almost,_ in Bloom's defence, and her youngest sister fell silent. Before long, the twisted colours of the portal came into view.

"Go," Icy pushed Bloom forward, glancing behind her before taking a step towards the gateway.

"And where," a frosty, wicked voice stopped them, frozen in place, " are you all going?"


	12. Chapter 12

"Don't." Icy's voice took on an edge that Bloom had never heard directed at anyone other than her and her friends, as the witch noticed that Belladonna had taken hold of her. Usually it filled her with anger and fear, but now, she had never been more grateful to hear the witch's voice.

"Oh, come on, little princess. Let me have this moment, I've dreamt of it for so long. Let me kill this one, and maybe I'll let you down a bit more easily," Belladonna sneered. Darcy and Stormy could tell by her eyes she had no intention of doing that. She had no intention of letting any of the four of them live.

"Don't," Icy repeated, slowly slipping her left hand behind her, reaching out as subtly as she could. When her hand made contact with cold steel, burning heat shot through her icy skin. She felt sick.

"Valtor has fled," Darcy announced, "Mandragora is dead. It's seventeen of us against the three of you. Let her go."

"Absolutely not," the two crimson figures replied, emerging from the shadows. Grinning, they let go of bolts of powers, striking Stormy as one. Icy raged, her snowy skin red with anger.

Pulling Oritel's sword from its prison, pushing out the agony in her hand, Icy swung it at Belladonna. It was heavier than it looked and, as much as she hated to admit it, she had little training with weapons. The ancestral witches prepared for a second attack, when the ground, the very substance of Obsidian, began to shake. Rock broke from the walls and shattered against the ground, from the distance, the shrieks of fairies made Bloom and the Trix wince.

The realisation struck moments too late that the sword had been the key to the prison, and now it was collapsing. The witches, delirious from impending freedom, released Bloom, who ran into the waiting arms of the Trix, who pulled her away through a small gap in the rock, down a narrow path to an open space. The Winx and the rest of the Company of Light stood in a circle in a defensive stance, waiting for the four girls.

"What the hell's happening?!" Stella shrieked, clinging to Brandon.

"She pulled the sword out, Obsidian's collapsing!" Darcy replied, covering her head from a falling shard of rock.

"We have to-"

The rock split apart, reducing the whole realm to battering winds and drifting rock, a deafening rumble shaking the air. Stones flew, winds whistled. The world seemed to collapse around them.

Eventually, it stopped, and silence returned.

They were no longer lying on jagged rocks.

They lay on grass. Beautiful, new, soft grass. And the sun shone. Bright and high. And people stood around, people unrecognisable to most of the people there.

But Bloom knew who they were.

They were her people. They began to disperse, wandering as if by muscle-memory towards their home, followed by the fairies and teachers, eager to help settle the people of Sparx back into their houses. And, at the head of the cluster of dazed fairies, a couple exuding majesty and honour. Her parents.

"Bloom," a beautiful voice, soothing as in Bloom's dreams, whispered, choked by a single tear.

"Mom?" Bloom rose to her knees, aching sides pushed to the back of her mind. Taking the woman's outstretched hand, she climbed to her feet, silently sobbing as her mother pulled her tightly into a hug. After a few moments, another strong pair of arms wrapped around them both.

"Bloom, sweetie, you've grown up so beautiful," Miriam tucked one of Bloom's stray hairs behind her ear and smiled, her expression filled with pride. They hugged again, tighter than before, her father's arms wrapping around them both.

"Yes, she is _lovely_ , isn't she?" a wicked voice crooned from behind them. "Too bad she won't be for much longer."

"Oh crap," Darcy muttered, locking eyes with Belladonna and her sisters as they approached the group, slowly and deliberately. Trailing behind them, almost forgotten in the chaos, was Riven, his eyes blurred, his mind totally under their control.

"That power was meant to be ours," she snapped, "but first – you three didn't think you could get away from us, did you?"

"Well," Icy retorted, until she widened her eyes in horror of what was happening. She and her sisters knew too well what being possessed felt like, it was the most soul-sucking, agonising, horrific experience one could ever have, and she was now watching Riven experience it three times over. His body was no longer his own, stumbling blindly towards the group, his sword drawn.

Musa cried out for him, unable to help the fear she felt at the emptiness in his eyes. Darcy felt a prickle of guilt as she thought back to three years ago, and the control that she exerted over Riven, only a fraction of what was happening now., and how much she had made him suffer.

"It's sad how little time your empty-headed mother had with you," Belladonna cackled, "but I'm sure she'll understand."

Riven staggered forward, sword raised, clearly fighting against the rising inexplicable urge to kill the girls in front of him.

Musa called out to him again, rushing forward and clutching his upper arm. It caught his attention, and he stared intently into her eyes. Bloom still held on to her mother. Everyone was frozen to the spot, watching whatever was about to unfold.

A single tear rolled down Musa's face as she silently begged him to snap out of it. He dragged in a breath, groaning from the effort.

And tossed away his sword. Musa's eyes lit up with delight, but it was short lived. He yanked out of her grip and launched himself forward, wrapping his strong hands around Icy's throat. She cried out in surprise and raked her nails down Riven's neck, beginning to panic when the pressure on her windpipe only increased. That is, until a dark cloud, crackling with lightning, smacked him in the back and sent him flying. Landing with a solid thud, he grunted in anger and shot up to his feet, spinning around on his heel and, having been reminded by the sight of Musa of previous years, flew at Darcy, more angry than she'd ever seen, or been herself.

Belladonna slipped from Riven's body, leaving her sisters there, and struck the girl in the side of the head. She collapsed with a heavy thud and tossed Riven aside, dazed.

Darcy didn't move, even at her sisters' insistent instructions.

Icy's eyes blazed with fury. Every shot she had ever fired at Bloom paled in comparison for the power she threw behind the shot she took at Riven, forcing the remaining witches from his body, shattered into a thousand pieces. He coughed, staggering to his feet and staring in horror at what he had done.

"I'm sorry…"

"Save it. Just go," Icy snapped, feeling an unfamiliar prickling behind her eyes.

"Is she…dead?" her youngest sister squeaked, words caught in her throat.

"She can't be. She – you two – are all I've ever had. The only thing that's kept mom going is the knowledge that we were out there _somewhere_. We're the Trix – there's three of us, that's how it's always been." Her voice trailed off, becoming barely more than a pleading whisper.

The sounds of approaching footsteps distracted Icy from the frozen tears on her cheek.


	13. Chapter 13

The kingdom of Sparx was truly magnificent. Without the frigid spectre of snow for miles around, the colours of the houses, the streets and, atop the hill behind them, the palace. Pinks and blues and greens and yellows shone from every angle, the steady stream of people, dazed and confused but now returned to their homes, breathing life into the realm.

"Wow," remarked Faragonda, who had forgotten the striking beauty of her favourite city. Griffin shot her a covert smile, a symbol of their buried friendship blossoming new.

Children tumbled into the paths of the fairies, shrieking with laughter. Flora scooped up a girl who looked remarkably like Rose and hugged her tight before returning her to her far more important game of tag.

"Thank you, girls, so much. We cannot begin to express our gratitude," Oritel said, his voice more regal than anything the Winx had ever heard before. Their professors shared smiles of pride and relief at the restoration of this great kingdom. Dorothy grinned ear to ear, her years alone in the face of the ancestresses finally over.

It was only when Tecna, her mind suddenly opening to the unexplainable beauty of the place, took the hand of a young boy, leading him back to the arms of his mother, that a cloud of darkness and dust rose up into the sky from where they had left the others. A voice with a sudden injection of panic interrupted the silence that followed.

"Where are my girls," Dorothy whispered.

….

Icy had never been one to feel pain. Her sisters felt anger, or pain, or love, just like anyone else, but she had never really _felt_ things. Not even when they had first stepped into the cavernous centre of Obsidian, face to face with the ancestresses. But the sight of her sister, one of the only two people who had ever been there for her, dead, was too much. The pain in her chest was not dull, nothing like how books described pain, it was sharp and overwhelming.

Soon, a woman was kneeling beside her. She was warm and felt calm, two things she had never wanted, but her presence was Icy's only anchor. She held tight to Miriam's energy.

Bloom knelt across from her, face screwed up into an expression that was half guilt, half planning. More footsteps sounded behind them, and soon the rest of the Winx, trailed by the teachers less Oritel, who had stayed behind with his people, skidded to a halt beside them. Seeing the scene that the ancestresses had left behind, Dorothy fell slowly to her knees, face contorted into something that Icy could only describe as total devastation. A queen brought to her knees indeed.

"What happened?" professor Griffin demanded, no power to her voice.

"They…" Stormy started to explain, but her words trailed off. Bloom, shockingly disturbed by the vanished bravado of the witches, took over.

"The witches took over Riven's body," she began, gesturing to the prostrate man, Musa leaning over him tentatively. "Belladonna slipped out and attacked her."

Tears slid down the Queen of Whispera's face. The silence was heavy and absolute.

Until Icy did something she never thought she'd do. She asked something of Bloom, no cunning or ulterior motive in her eyes.

"Bloom, two years ago when we took the Codex from Red Fountain, I almost killed Sky." She was ashamed at the admission in front of her mother, but she felt the hope rising in her chest.

"Yes, I remember," she said slowly, attempting to follow the witch's chain of thought.

"You used the Dragon Fire to save him."

The statement settled in, and Bloom quickly realised what Icy was asking of her. Nodding pensively, she smiled, considering if she could do it.

"Is it possible?" Bloom asked, pinning Miriam with a hopeful gaze. The queen, slipping an arm around Dorothy's shaking shoulders, nodded.

"Yes."

"Then I'll do it." The fairy never thought she'd be saving one of the Trix, but Icy was right. They had only ever had each other, and, although she'd never admit it, she'd always rather liked Darcy.

The Winx needed no instruction to move everyone back, glad to have something to do rather than watching the grievous scene, while Bloom summoned her powers, reaching deeper than she'd had to in a long time. The familiar calm at the centre of burning rage that came with using the Dragon Flame settled over her. Ignoring the creeping doubt as to what would happen if this didn't work, she laid her hands atop the witch's back – and let her power flow.

The colour of the sky seemed to change around them, scorching heat battered them all. A feeling of peace settled on the land as Bloom, serene and majestic at the centre of it all, sat pouring out her magic.

And then the land was still again.

Exhausted, Bloom collapsed backwards, breathing heavily. Disbelief dulled the girls' senses, and for a moment, they did not move.

Only when a cough, followed by a murmur, broke the heavy silence, did anybody move.

"Crap, you guys, what the hell was that?"

Laughter broke out across the gathering.

Dorothy swept the girl up into her arms, planting a kiss on her cheek. Dazed and desperately confused, Darcy just let her mother spin her around, enjoying the path of non-resistance for a change.

The real miracle, however, was not the living, breathing girl who had been struck dead moments before, but the sobbing, hiccupping girl with her arms flung around Bloom's neck, white hair tangling amongst Bloom's clothes.

"Thank you," Icy whispered into Bloom's collar. The fairy squeezed her tight and released her.

"What are pixies for?" Bloom chuckled, the weakness in her muscles evident in her voice.

Deciding it would be best to leave Dorothy with her daughters, the professors took the Winx and remaining specialists back to the city, each breathing a sigh of relief, even Stella who once thought she would be glad to see the back of Darcy.

Dorothy clutched her daughters, laughing almost manically in her relief. The serenity that she lost the day she lost her children came flooding back. She had always believed in her daughters, and they had come through for her.

On the periphery, Icy hung back, deep in thought. Bloom, who had quietly remained behind, sat down beside her.

"Pixie… I can't say I'm sorry for everything I ever did to you. But I am sorry for ever trying to take your power off you. It takes a special kind of person to use something like that and…. I'm not that kind of person." Icy exhaled shakily, her admission taking more effort than she thought.

Bloom only nodded, understanding the witch for perhaps the first time. She didn't blame her for not being sorry, she was only doing what she had to to survive in a world that had rejected her.

"Thanks," she said quickly. "For the record, I think you might just make a good queen one day."


	14. Chapter 14

Excitement buzzed through the people of Sparx. Decorations littered the city, the streets and the castle were lit up with candles and lights at every spare inch of space. Every house hung a banner in royal colours from its windows. Children ran through the streets, screeching with joy, chased by blissful but exhausted parents. For the past three weeks, the sun had been shining, chasing away the shadows of decades beneath ice.

When Oritel had first announced a celebration of his people, Bloom had been nervous. Her father had asked her to speak to her people, inspire them with her words as her parents could do so effortlessly. Sat at her desk in her beautiful chambers, Bloom penned her speech over and over again, the fish in the bowl beside her leaping, mocking her with its freedom. Her gown, although intricate and light, seemed to push the air out of her.

Two maids bustled in, followed eagerly by Stella clutching five outfits in her arms, squealing her delight.

"Bloom, come on! We only have three hours before the party starts and I have work to do!"

"No, Stel, I'm writing my speech! Anyway," Bloom said, laughing at the state of her best friend, "you're already dressed. Why all those clothes?"

"They're for these three!" Stella declared, the delighted grin of a child at Christmas appearing on her face as the Trix traipsed through the doorway, their familiar look of contempt, mingled with amusement, plastered on their faces.

"They seriously have no fashion sense!" Stella chimed, pulling Stormy by her wrist in front of a floor-length mirror, holding up dress after dress in front of her and, when she found nothing she deemed suitable, reached into Bloom's closet and pulled out ten more.

"Stella, our mother can get dresses for us, if we must wear them," Icy protested, but Stella gave her a sharp look, followed by grabbing Darcy by the wrist and trying to find something in purple.

"Honestly, Stel," Bloom cut in, finally completing her speech, "they're, like, twenty, they can dress themselves!"

"Uh, no they can't!" Stella said joyfully. Ushering Stormy behind a partition to change, not satisfied but putting up with the sapphire, satin gown with little adornment except beads around the sleeve hem. The witch grunted in annoyance behind the screen, only emerging after several small crashes.

"I have to admit," Darcy grumbled as Stella thrust a dress in smooth lavender – an uncomfortably departure from her favoured shades – and sent her packing behind the screen, "these dresses aren't half bad. I mean they're awful colours, but they're soft."

"You've gone soft," Icy sniggered, even as Stella grabbed her rabidly by the arm, threw her into a chair and began to dust her already flawless skin with a little more colour. Without the watchful gaze of Stella for a second, Darcy and Stormy examined Bloom's wardrobe, for anything that their sister might wear for a few hours without growing to hate her very existence. Eventually, with the help of Bloom, they found a dress. Plain, taffeta and silk in light baby blue, almost white, the colour of ice crystals. Having spent most of her life with a harsh up-do and a practical suit, a soft set of gentle curls and a dress made a welcome change.

A knock on the door brought Griffin into the chamber, a small smile growing on her face when she laid eyes on the Trix, looking exactly as they were supposed to for the first time in nearly fifteen years.

"You girls look…" she began, unable to find the words.

"Great!" Stella exclaimed, swanning around the room, adding finishing touches to the witches' outfits, ignoring their grumbles. She beamed at Bloom, who was resisting silently the work of the maids on her, clutching her speech. "Thanks to yours truly!"

"Quite," Griffin grimaced. "Be that as it may, your mother says it's time to go,"

The Trix shared a look of excitement, tinged with apprehension as Stella wrenched Bloom forward by the wrist and flew from the room. Slowly, purposefully, they followed Griffin from the room, a little ashamed of their wonder at the beautiful, oversized furniture and the light streaming in through the windows. Even the palace at Whisperia, after three weeks of living there and all its gothic luxury, was not like this Versailles.

Down the corridor, draped in soft carpet, in the process of being replaced after years of damaging ice, the witches followed the fairies, still dazed at how easily the habit of attacking fairies vanished. The peace that they all felt, the comfort and normality of having a mother and friends again, was absolute.

"Girls," Griffin said, nodding at Stella and Bloom to move on, "wait a minute."

The Trix stopped and turned to face their former headmistress. The confident swagger that she had perfected over god knows how many years was replaced by a more sober majesty.

"I'm sorry."

The witches were stunned into silence by her words.

"Why?" Icy whispered, suddenly completely speechless for the first time in her life.

"I gave up on you girls. When you were most vulnerable I sent you away. And it almost got you all killed." She shot Darcy a guilty glance, but she shrugged, smirking wickedly at her.

"You did give up on us. But we gave up on us, too," Icy answered.

"She's right," Darcy added, "but we're back now." She smiled, truly smiled, and it was beautiful. In their gowns, primped as they had never been as servants to the ancestresses, they were regal and radiant. Griffin was proud, and smiled sadly after them as they strolled away, ready to meet their mother and become princesses again.

"The world is whole again," Griffin mused, breathing a sigh of relief as she followed the witches, watching them as they stepped onto the balcony, joining Dorothy and Bloom.

No matter how far gone they were, no matter how many people had given up on them, no matter how dark their lives had become, they still came back into the light.


	15. Chapter 15

**Well, everyone, that's it. I'm sorry it took me so long to finish, my computer breaks every six months or so, but I had so much fun writing!**

 **Thanks for reading!**


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